Flappy Bird is Officially Gone from the App Store

As promised, Flappy Bird creator Dong Nguyen has removed his torturous app from Apple's App Store. Flappy Bird is gone. It is survived by knockoffs like Clumsy Bird and Happy Poo Flap, and by the nightmares and thumb pain it has caused you these last few weeks.

It's still not entirely clear why Nguyen is abandoning his $50,000-a-day ship. The developer cited discomfort with all of the attention he had been getting:

I can call 'Flappy Bird' is a success of mine. But it also ruins my simple life. So now I hate it.

Both of which are totally valid reasons, although they gloss over another consideration: That Flappy Bird borrows quite heavily from the world of Super Mario, and it's only a matter of time before the spotlight draws the attention of Nintendo's IP lawyers.

Of course, removal from the App Store doesn't mean total extermination. If you've already downloaded Flappy Bird, you'll be able to keep flapping for just as long as you keep it on your phone. And to be honest, you might want to delete it; after Dr. Frankenstein abandons his monster, the villagers don't tend to last.